| Watching an animation is just like watching a magic show. People always expect the miracle happens. In animations, animated characters prompt the curiosity of the audience about the end of the story like magicians. If there is no magician in a magic show, it is hard to imagine any miracle will happen and the audience will continue to watch it. By the same token, even though the story has varied twists and turns, it will be difficult to have the gripping plot, or the story will even stagnant without the animated characters. Therefore there is no doubt about the importance of the animated characters in the animation.Excellent animated characters are the key to success of an animation. How to design a good animated character is what we have been studying so far. There are many factors that affect the character design in animation production, including internal factors and external factors. I will focus on the analysis of internal factors, that is, the visual design. Visual design includes the setting of external appearance and inner character, which is the character design and motion design. A good character will deepen the audience’s first impression to the animation. The character design plays the role of "empathy" to take you into the magical world of animations. It places the audience in the shoes of the characters. The audience seems to blend with the characters, wholeheartedly hoping the protagonist to get everything he desires. After all, the visual design is critical to the character design.Disney has an important position in the history of animations; it is a pioneer in the animation industry, and also the benchmark of animation development. Although it also had a rough time, and experienced the low period of development, it can always succeed in quick recovery through its core competitiveness. China also has a glorious history of animations and the unique "Chinese animation school". Chinese animations were once sought after by everyone. Since the "Proud General" of the1950s, the animation works by Shanghai Animation Film Studio (referred to as" SAFS ") have received numerous international awards, and SAFS gradually formed its own unique "national" style. In the late1980s, with the flourishing of TV and TV shows in the Mainland, SAFS also vigorously developed the animated television series whose main characters nowadays are still the entertaining topic for people born in the1980s. Despite the splendid history, SAFS has never witnessed a growth from a "Mickey Mouse" to a towering tree like the Walt Disney Company from which patches of young companies have been derived. We may also notice that the image promotion of SAFS animated characters is far less than that of Disney. By analyzing the classic works by Disney and SAFS during the glorious period of two-dimensional animations, this essay tries to look into their differences in the animated character design, to find our own strengths and weaknesses, and to learn from the successful experiences of others. And I hope to contribute useful suggestions from China’s animated character design.As a comparative study, this essay is subject to the process of description, explanation, comparison and analysis. The first part of the essay is to define the animated character design, including an analysis of the status and influence of the character design in animations, and the definition of the visual design concept followed by a detailed breakdown. The second part is to analyze from two perspectives (appearance and motion) the outstanding works by Disney and SAFS during the glorious period of two-dimensional animations. The fourth part is consist of the comparison and a conclusion on visual design principles, on the basis of "picture" and "motion" analysis. At last, the essay will end with an analysis of the status-quo of Chinese animation design, as well as an understanding of our own strengths and weaknesses. I presented my personal opinions in this part, hoping to make my humble efforts for China’s high-quality and high level animations. |
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